WATERBOY Posted February 28, 2017 Report Share Posted February 28, 2017 Racers, I understand there has been a lot of discussion around reverse mounted accessories and aluminum/magnesium bell housings. If reverse mounted accessories have been allowed in the past, they will be allowed moving forward. Aftermarket racing transmissions with internal clutches are not required to have a steel bell housing. Any car with a external clutch is required to have a steel explosion proof bellhousing, automatics are required to have a SFI approved flexplate safety shield. Please think safety and choose your components wisely. On another note we are reaching out for anyone interested in becoming a sponsor of the LLM Division. This comes with outstanding advertising opportunities and other on/off track benefits. We are open to your ideas..........please feel free to contact us and discuss your ideas. Thanks Racers for all you do and have a Great Day! 2017 STS Limited Late Model Rules - Final.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sm44 Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 I don't have a llm. I don't race at sts on a regular basis. With that I have a question. Why are automatics required to have a scatter shield but internal clutch cars are not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hray Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 ............................... Why are automatics required to have a scatter shield but internal clutch cars are not? Have you ever seen a torque converter explode? An internal clutch trans has nothing that can explode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sm44 Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 Actually..in a dirt car I have not. In fact I've never seen a torque converter explode period. But I guess that makes sense. I would be interested to see pics of exploded converters in dirt cars if someone could post them please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arob Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 There was an E-Mod that it came apart and as I was told it was a lot worse than it looked from the stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthTxPromotions Posted March 1, 2017 Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 CBS had a torque converter caught in the front straight away catch fence its first full season. Never had seen that before.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam71 Posted March 2, 2017 Report Share Posted March 2, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WATERBOY Posted March 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2017 Great question sm44. I will do my best to explain from my prospective. Internal clutch transmissions are purposely built and tested for racing applications which results in the components being dang near bulletproof - Example Bert, Brinn, Falcon. I personal have not witnessed any of these aftermarket racing transmissions exploding during racing conditions. The smaller diameter SFI approved flywheels used with these transmissions experiences no elongation during high revs. so the danger of flywheel explosions is reduced drastically. External clutches have all kinds of explosion opportunities therefore we require a steel bellhousings. OEM production automatic transmissions are designed for highway use and are not designed for the high revs. they experience under in racing conditions. I have witnessed multiple explosions of automatic transmissions, the latest I can think of at STS was one with the 87 LM and the other with the 116 LM, the damage caused by the shrapnel from these explosions certainly may be a eye opener. There are aftermarket parts available for the automatics which reduce the explosion hazards but do not totally eliminate. We are certainly concerned for your safety and well being therefore we recommend you to consider a transmission scatter shield with automatic transmissions. This could be as simple as plating the transmission hump area of the floor pan with steel plate. Consider the Limited Late Models are constructed with a aluminum tub and do not have what little protection the steel floor pan has in the event of a transmission explosion. OEM flexplates have a tendency to elongate under high revs., this strains both the welds and the steel. Hopefully you can picture a flexplate exploding at 6500 - 7000 RPM and the end result. Almost all sanctioning bodies require the Flexplate Scatter Shield for this reason and so do we. I have attached a few pictures of the results from automatic transmission explosions for reference. WHEN THINGS GO SOUTH.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sm44 Posted March 4, 2017 Report Share Posted March 4, 2017 Thank you for the reply. I personally think the entire cockpit area of today's cars are not safe enough. I wish we could make everyone plate from the hip area to the foot area in case of trans, driveshaft or flywheel/converter/clutch failure. My original question was pointed towards a flywheel failure on a brinn style trans with no protection. I will always play the devils advocate if you will. IMCA still requires a steel bellhousing with an internal clutch. We use the same flywheel regardless of brinn or converter. Thanks again for the discussion. And the converter in the fence at CBS...was a broken transmission case, a shroud didn't make a difference there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hray Posted March 4, 2017 Report Share Posted March 4, 2017 .................IMCA still requires a steel bellhousing with an internal clutch. We use the same flywheel regardless of brinn or converter. ............... If you use a flex plate with an internal clutch trans, you should use a steel bell housing or a bell housing shield, but if you use the Bert, Brinn or Falcon fly wheel there is no need for the shield. Even a mini clutch shouldn't require a shield because the clutch housing is the shield - but that's another whole discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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